Monica Roberts Explained

Monica Roberts
Birth Date:4 May 1962[1]
Birth Place:Houston, Texas, US
Death Place:Harris County, Texas, US
Years Active:1999-2020
Known For:TransGriot

Monica Katrice Roberts (May 4, 1962October 5, 2020) was an African-American blogger, writer, and transgender rights advocate. She was the founding editor of TransGriot, a blog focusing on issues pertaining to trans women, particularly African-American and other women of color. Roberts' coverage of transgender homicide victims in the United States is credited for bringing national attention to the issue.

Early life and education

Roberts was born and raised in segregated Houston, Texas. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a DJ. Roberts graduated from Jones High School in the Houston Independent School District in 1980.[2] [3] In 1984, she graduated from the University of Houston.

Career and activism

Roberts was working in Houston as an airline gate agent in 1993–94 when she began her gender transition. She was a founding member of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, and served as its Lobby Chair from 1999 to 2002.[4] [5] In Louisville, Kentucky, Roberts served on the board of the Fairness Campaign and its political action committee C-FAIR. In 2005 and 2006, she organized the Transsistahs-Transbrothas Conference that took place in that city.

She began writing TransGriot in 2004 as a newspaper column for The Letter, a Louisville-based LGBT newspaper;[6] the term "griot" refers to a storyteller from West Africa. Roberts founded the TransGriot blog in 2006. Roberts was motivated by a lack of trans blogs focused on black people and other people of color. One of the missions of her blog is to "chronicle the history of Black transpeople". The blog allowed her to address community issues in a more timely manner and allowed greater control than the column after it was taken away due to a conflict with an advertiser over her writing.[7] Through TransGriot, Roberts also identified transgender homicide victims in order to tribute the victims, many of whom are often misgendered in police reporting and media coverage.[8] Roberts' coverage of transgender homicides is credited for bringing national attention to the issue.[9]

As a black trans woman, Roberts has explored the intersections of cissexism and racism in her writing. In a 2009 column, she stated that people who have a problem with the word cisgender "are wailing in unacknowledged cisgender privilege", and compared this criticism to white people that "call me 'racist' anytime I criticize the underlying structural assumptions that buttress whiteness".[10]

Awards and recognition

In 2006, Roberts won the IFGE Trinity Award for meritorious service to the transgender community; it was the transgender community's highest meritorious service award, and she was the first African-American Texan and the third African-American openly trans person to be given the award. In 2015, Roberts received the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award from Fantasia Fair, making her the first African-American openly trans person to be so honored.[11]

In 2016, Roberts received a Special Recognition Award from GLAAD,[12] and became the first openly trans person to receive Phillips Brooks House Association's Robert Coles "Call of Service" Award.[13] In 2017, Roberts received the HRC John Walzel Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign.

In 2018, she was named one of "8 Houston Women to Watch on Social Media" by Houstonia.[14] and won Outstanding Blog at the GLAAD Media Awards.[15] In January 2020, Roberts received the Susan J Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement from the National LGBTQ Task Force.[16] In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named her among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".[17] [18]

In April 2021, TransGriot won a GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Blog category.[19]

Personal life, death and legacy

Roberts began her gender transition in 1993–94.[20] [21] She had felt since she was five or six that "something was different about me", but didn't have access to black trans role models at that time (the 1970s); she felt that she would have transitioned earlier if she had.[22]

Roberts died on October 5, 2020.[23] [24] [25] Her death was announced on October 8, 2020, in a Facebook post by her friend Dee Dee Watters, and was later confirmed by the Harris County Medical Examiner and local media.[26] Roberts' death was initially reported as a hit and run case, though the medical examiner later stated that the cause of death was a "medical emergency"; her family reported that she was feeling unwell in the days prior to her death.[27] The following week, the medical examiner reported the cause of death was complications of a pulmonary embolism.[28]

Many LGBT activists, writers, and other celebrities paid tribute to Roberts via social media following the announcement of her death, including Janet Mock,[29] Raquel Willis,[30] Jen Richards,[31] Darnell L. Moore,[32] and Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David.[33]

In January 2021, Dee Dee Watters, another Houston activist and friend of Roberts, announced plans for a publication named TransGriot to continue the work Roberts had done to cover black and trans issues on her blog of the same name.[34] [35]

There is a memorial to Roberts, in the form of an electrical enclosure painted with her likeness, in Montrose. Abbie Kamin, a member of Houston City Council, established the project to make the memorial; Katherine Ligon and Brad Pritchett were the artists. The process of proposal to completing the memorial was about one year. Sam Byrd of OutSmart stated that the memorial shows a "silent gaze".[36]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Monica Roberts' 2006 Trinity Acceptance Speech . ifge.org. The International Foundation for Gender Education . October 9, 2020 . July 3, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180703001121/http://www.ifge.org/?q=node%2F262 . live .
  2. News: Allen . Samantha . Inside Monica Roberts' Mission to Identify Transgender Murder Victims. February 19, 2019. The Daily Beast. March 19, 2020. en. October 10, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201010151055/https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-monica-roberts-mission-to-identify-transgender-murder-victims. live.
  3. News: Smith . Tierra . Lopardi . Michael . Houston transgender journalist, community leader Monica Roberts dies at 58 . October 9, 2020 . Click2Houston . October 8, 2020 . October 10, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201010151018/https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2020/10/08/houston-transgender-journalist-community-leader-monica-roberts-dies-at-58/ . live .
  4. News: Steve . Lee. Monica Roberts recognized as transgender pioneer. San Diego LGBT Weekly. December 21, 2016. July 13, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222221902/http://lgbtweekly.com/2015/07/13/monica-roberts-recognized-as-transgender-pioneer/. December 22, 2016 . dead.
  5. Web site: TransGriot Monica Roberts On Black Trans History. One+Love. December 21, 2016. February 20, 2014. December 22, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222153641/http://www.onepluslove.com/transgriot-monica-roberts-on-black-trans-history/. live.
  6. Web site: Rebekah . Barnes. Advocates Janet Mock, Monica Roberts Discuss Gender, Trans Rights . The Chautauquan Daily. December 21, 2016 . August 10, 2016. December 22, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222221625/http://chqdaily.com/2016/08/advocates-janet-mock-monica-roberts-discuss-gender-trans-rights/. live.
  7. Web site: Monica Roberts on the key to her awesome trans advocacy: "I'm an equal opportunity offender!". Smith. Gwen. November 16, 2019. Queerty. March 19, 2020. December 20, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191220213222/https://www.queerty.com/monica-roberts-key-awesome-trans-advocacy-im-equal-opportunity-offender-20191116. live.
  8. News: Allen. Samantha. Inside Monica Roberts' Mission to Identify Transgender Murder Victims. February 19, 2019. The Daily Beast. March 19, 2020. en. October 10, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201010151055/https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-monica-roberts-mission-to-identify-transgender-murder-victims. live.
  9. News: Teeman . Tim . Monica Roberts, Pioneering Transgender Journalist and Founder of TransGriot, Dies . The Daily Beast . October 9, 2020 . October 8, 2020 . October 10, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201010151018/https://www.thedailybeast.com/monica-roberts-pioneering-transgender-journalist-and-founder-of-transgriot-dies . live .
  10. Book: Enke, Anne . Transfeminist Perspectives in and beyond Transgender and Gender Studies. May 4, 2012. Temple University Press. 9781439907481 . 211 . December 21, 2016.
  11. Web site: 2017 Special Guests and Awards. HRC Houston. April 5, 2017. April 6, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170406023225/https://www.hrchouston.org/special-guests-awards. live.
  12. Web site: TransGriot's Monica Roberts to receive Special Recognition Award at GLAAD Gala San Francisco. GLAAD. December 21, 2016. September 2, 2016. December 22, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222152553/https://www.glaad.org/blog/transgriots-monica-roberts-receive-special-recognition-award-glaad-gala-san-francisco . live.
  13. Web site: 10th Annual Robert Coles "Call of Service" Lecture and Award . Phillips Brooks House Association . October 28, 2016 . February 2, 2017 . February 3, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170203161329/http://pbha.org/event/10th-annual-robert-coles-call-of-service-lecture-and-award/ . live .
  14. Web site: 8 Houston Women to Watch on Social Media | Houstonia . Houstoniamag.com . November 20, 2017. February 4, 2018 . June 18, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180618002935/https://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2018/1/30/houston-women-social-media#.WnVgDhmhx0U.facebook . live .
  15. Web site: GLAAD Media Awards: The Complete List of Winners 2018 . . April 15, 2018 . April 14, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180414094138/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/glaad-media-awards-complete-list-winners-2018-1078487/item/outstanding-drama-series-1075966 . live .
  16. Web site: How Monica Roberts Became One of America's Most Respected Black Trans Journalists. Ajani. Ashia. them.. February 28, 2020. en. March 19, 2020. March 19, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200319195950/https://www.them.us/story/monica-roberts-transgriot-profile. live.
  17. Web site: Queerty Pride50 2020 Honorees. June 30, 2020. Queerty.com . en-US. July 24, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200724142900/https://www.queerty.com/pride50. live.
  18. Web site: Bull. Chris. July 11, 2020. These queer media stars are helping save America from itself. August 2, 2020. Queerty. July 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200715061957/https://www.queerty.com/queer-media-stars-helping-save-america-20200711. live.
  19. Web site: April 8, 2021. Disclosure, Schitt's Creek, Sam Smith, Happiest Season, I May Destroy You, CHIKA, Veneno, Star Trek: Discovery, The Boys in the Band, The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo among award recipients at the 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards. April 9, 2021. GLAAD. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20210409151631/https://www.glaad.org/blog/32-glaad-media-awards-winners. April 9, 2021. live.
  20. Web site: Mari . Haywood. Filling a void in the blogsphere: Monica Roberts for Transgriot. GLAAD. December 21, 2016. February 28, 2013. December 22, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222152027/http://www.glaad.org/blog/filling-void-blogsphere-monica-roberts-transgriot. live.
  21. Web site: Shaquanda . Brown. Monica Roberts: Call of Service Lecture 2016. Phillips Brooks House Association. December 21, 2016. November 3, 2016. December 22, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222223603/http://pbha.org/stories/monica-roberts-2016-call-of-service-lecture/. live.
  22. Web site: Dennis R.. Upkins. How Has Transgender Activism Changed in the Past Decade?. Bitch Media. December 21, 2016. February 1, 2016. December 22, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222222028/https://bitchmedia.org/article/how-has-transgender-activism-changed-past-decade. live.
  23. News: Guerra. Joey. October 8, 2020. Monica Roberts, a towering advocate for transgender rights in Houston and beyond, dies. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201010151018/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/features/article/Monica-Roberts-a-towering-advocate-for-15632154.php. October 10, 2020. October 8, 2020. Houston Chronicle.
  24. News: Street . Mikelle. October 8, 2020. Monica Roberts, TransGriot Creator and Pioneer in Trans News, Has Died. . live. October 8, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201009144919/https://www.out.com/transgender/2020/10/08/monica-roberts-transgriot-creator-and-pioneer-trans-news-has-died . October 9, 2020.
  25. News: Reynolds. Daniel. October 9, 2020. Trans Activist Monica Roberts Felt Ill Before Death, Says Family. The Advocate. October 9, 2020.
  26. News: Schmidt. Samantha. October 8, 2020. Monica Roberts, a pioneering transgender activist and journalist, dies at 58. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201010151043/https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/10/09/monica-roberts-pioneering-transgender-activist-journalist-dies/. October 10, 2020. October 9, 2020. The Washington Post.
  27. Web site: Shay. Miya. 9 October 2020 . Trans rights advocate Monica Roberts wasn't feeling well before her death, family says. 10 October 2020. ABC 13.
  28. News: Autopsy: Transgender rights activist died from embolism . October 19, 2020 . . . October 16, 2020.
  29. janetmock. 1314335794845437953. October 8, 2020. Monica Roberts held us down — the first to defend, to celebrate, to amplify. I would not be where I am without Her — a big sister who told it like it was, who centered Black trans lives, brilliance & history unapologetically. Rest well sis. Thank you..
  30. RaquelWillis_. 1314311799601274884. October 8, 2020. Saddened to hear the news that Ms. Monica Roberts (@TransGriot) passed this week. She was such a powerful force for Black trans journalism and I was honored to feature her expertise in last year's #TransObituariesProject. Her work and brilliance live on through us. #RestInPower.
  31. SmartAssJen. 1314327795850383360. October 8, 2020. I am gutted by the news of @TransGriot's passing. Monica Roberts was a light for everyone involved in the fight for trans justice, a warm spirit with a bawdy sense of humor and merciless intolerance for bullshit. She was an tower amongst us and will be profoundly missed..
  32. Moore_Darnell. 1314324519113224193. October 8, 2020. Monica was a friend. Someone who I looked to for courage...for voice. I'm better for having spent time in her presence on the rare occasions we were able to be in the same room. And I give thanks for her advocacy! I won't forget her. May she rise in power..
  33. Web site: Morrow. Nick. The Human Rights Campaign Mourns the Loss of Monica Roberts. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201010151040/https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/the-human-rights-campaign-mourns-the-loss-of-monica-roberts. October 10, 2020. October 9, 2020. Human Rights Campaign. October 8, 2020 .
  34. News: Wolf. Brandon. Black Trans Publication Inspired by Monica Roberts Has Launched. January 12, 2021. January 15, 2021. OutSmart.
  35. News: Clifton. Derrick. This Black, Trans Publication Will Honor Trailblazing Journalist Monica Roberts' Legacy. January 13, 2021. January 15, 2021. Them.
  36. Web site: Byrd. Sam. Portrait of a Pioneer . OutSmart. Houston. 2023-06-27. 2024-01-02.

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